I don't blame you for wanting to salvage all your hard work. There are a few select plants that can be brought indoors during cold weather and still produce solid results. In general, you don't want to transplant because it can be a shock to plants with established root systems, but there are a few ways to transfer your hard work indoors. Let's start by taking a look at what types of plants can survive the shock.

Transferable Plants

Not all plants can be pulled out the ground and moved inside, the four-foot tomato plant, for instance, can't be uprooted and transferred. However, smaller plants, herbs especially, can be brought in and taken care of easily. Basil, parsley, and cilantro are all excellent options to bring indoors. If you live in an area with harsh winters, you can bring in your perennials, like oregano or parsley, but if they can feasibly survive outdoors, it's best to let them stay. You'll need to dig up the whole root system if you want them to endure, so be sure to dig up the surrounding area when you uproot it and have a pot big enough to handle it on hand.

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Vegetables aren't to be ruled out completely. If you have plants in your garden you can get some hearty clippings from and you're willing to care for them, you can start a new plant indoors.

Most flowers shouldn't give you any trouble as long as they're a perennial or biennial. Just be sure to pull the whole root system up if you're digging them out of a garden.

When selecting your plants for transfer, don't pick the biggest. Pick a small or medium sized plant. The transplanting process is hard on plants, and smaller ones are more likely to survive. You'll want to dig these up in the early morning or late evening, when the moisture is the greatest, and be sure to check for bugs before bringing them indoors. You can spray down the plant with soapy water to get rid of the most common pests. Photo by Stephanie Brown.

Ways to Setup Your Indoor Garden

Once you've chosen which plants will work indoors, you need to set and area aside to let them grow. We'll go over a few of these options below, but as a common rule, you want to water these plants less since they're not outside in the sun all day long. Most herbs will grow slowly indoors in the winter, so don't be surprised if it doesn't have the same growth spurt as it did outside.

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Pots: The most obvious choice when moving a plant indoors is to pot it. You'll need a lot of room in a well-lit area of the house for this to work, but you can also build shelves and hangers to manage space. When you're potting the plant, use regular soil and do not fertilize, the plants don't need it indoors.

Window Farms: If you don't want to deal with pots all over the house, window farming is an easy way to keep your herbs in a brightly lit area while keeping them watered properly. Using common household items like water bottles, you can build a small, hydroponic window garden on your own for around $30. These systems hang from the ceiling in your window, providing ample light to plants without taking up floor space. You need to keep your plants small for this to work, but it's an easy way to keep your garden alive without having to spend money on pots. Photo by SparkCBC

Greenhouses: Greenhouses are usually associated with the outdoors, but you can make them inside in a few different ways. The easiest way for smaller plants is to purchase or build a small, enclosed windowed structure, but if you're willing to put in the effort, converting a screen porch or enclosed patio into a greenhouse isn't too difficult. Following this guide on eHow, you can convert a porch using plastic film and a staple gun. You'll also need to install a heat source, grow lights and floor insulation. You can then follow the same rules for replanting into pots described above.

Every plant is going to be different, so be sure to do a little research into the specific type you want to transplant before doing it. Once spring hits and the danger of frost has passed, you can safely move them back outdoors.